The Elemental Guardians
by Lanoa111
Summary: Naruto reads farther into the forbidden scroll. What follows, is a event that will change the ninja world. Strong Naruto. Naruto/Hinata
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Ya…I'm going to be working on this story as a side project. I just had this idea floating around in my head, so I decided to get it down. The fact that I can't figure out where to go with Path to Greatness might have played a role in that. Anyways, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I would be sitting on some beach in Hawaii and sipping lemonade. **

Naruto panted in fatigue. He had just finished mastering the kage bunshin no jutsu. Not that he read the description for it. After all, descriptions were useless right? Naruto let his eyes slide over the scroll, trying to remember everything that he saw. Suddenly his eyes came to rest on something called elemental bloodlines.

"_What's that?"_ Naruto read the instructions to open the scroll. When he sent chakra into the seal, a small scroll popped out that read "Elemental Guardians". _"Well, looks interesting."_ Naruto opened the scroll. He quickly started reading it.

_If you don't want to risk death, stop reading here. From now on you risk death just by reading this scroll. To this date, I am the only one to have succeeded in this task. _

Naruto for once stopped and thought. If whoever wrote this scroll was the only one to have succeeded in whatever task he was talking about, it must be dangerous. By the same reasoning, it must be extremely rewarding. Naruto grinned and read on.

_My name is Hashirama Senju. The Shodaime Hokage of Konoha. Years ago, I stumbled across a man sitting under a tree. Curious I asked him what he was doing. His answer was that he was waiting for me. He said that I had a remarkable future ahead of me and that he was there to give me the power that I would need for that future. At first I was skeptical, but when he beat me without any effort at all, I changed my mind. When asked what he wanted, he told me that he was there to give me the option of a test. Back then, I only had the affinity of water. It was after this test that I gained the affinities of earth and wood. Not knowing the results this test would have, I accepted that opportunity. The strange man told me to do some handseals. It was later that I learned that these handseals were for the summoning of the Elemental Guardians. Ninjas think that their affinities are determined at birth. Well, in part they are right. But they are also wrong. Your chakra affinities are determined by special nature spirits. These spirits are called the Elemental Guardians. They are omnipotent, knowing everything that is happening in the present moment. Some can even look into the past and future, seeing brief flashes of events that will happen. In all my travels and all my life, I have never run across any beings as powerful as they are. They embody the elements themselves. They determine whether they will give you the use of the element they embody. Now, do not think that all these elementals are good and kind-hearted, but most of them are. If you are pure of heart, you are in no danger from them, unless you take their test. I will not reveal the test, but I will say that if you do not have a strong will, you will not succeed. I was told the risks. Only one in one hundred will survive this test. All who do not pass are killed. If you do pass, The elemental will grant you their element to use and some of their power. I only took two tests, but I was told that if I wanted to, I could take more if I wanted to. At any time, I am able to summon them and take another test, but the odds of me passing each are almost non-existant. I am writing down the hand-seals so that any who do wish to take the test may. Beware those that are not pure of heart. _

Naruto grinned when he finished reading. If he did this he'd be Hokage for sure. Naruto read the handseals and memorized them. When he was done he gathered up his strength and started gathering up chakra for the jutsu. Naruto quickly ran through the ten handseals for the jutsu and shouted "Summoning jutsu: Elemental Guardians!" There were ten puffs of smoke. When the smoke cleared it revealed four men, and three women.

The first man was wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt, white shoes, and white rimmed sunglasses. He also had blue eyes, and white hair.

The second man was wearing red anbu style pants, a red shirt with flames, and orange and red sandals. He had red hair, red eyes and was very tanned.

The third man had brown cargo pants, a light brown shirt, brown sandals, brown hair, and brown eyes.

The fourth was wearing black anbu style pants, a black muscle shirt, black combat boots, and a black bandana. He had black hair, and light grey eyes. He seemed to be shrouded in shadows.

The first woman was wearing a blue dress that went down to the ground and seemed to flow behind her. She had blue hair, and blue eyes.

The second woman was wearing dark yellow shorts, a white t-shirt, and yellow runners. She had yellow hair, and dark yellow eyes.

The third woman was wearing a light blue t-shirt, white pants, and white shoes. She had white hair, and blue eyes.

They all just stared at each other and Naruto. The first man was the first to break the silence. "Well…this is awkward…" he said with a sheepish grin. Naruto and the others just sweatdropped. The second woman just hit him in the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for Natsumi?" The second woman just looked at him in exasperation.

"What do you think? Stop acting like an idiot Katsurou." She growled out. Katsurou just looked at her in fear and nodded. The rest just shook their heads at the two's antics and turned to Naruto who was looking and laughing.

Finally the second man decided to speak up. "Hello. My name is Hotaka. The man in brown over there is Ken'ichi, and the man in the shadows is named Hiroshi. The woman in the dress is Tsubasa, while the woman with the white hair is Nanami. What is your name?" At this Natsumi stopped beating up Katsurou.

"His names Naruto." Katsurou spoke up. The others looked at him. He just grinned foolishly before saying "What? I gifted him with wind." The others just shook their heads in exasperation.

"Umm…what happens now?" Naruto asked.

Hiroshi was the one to speak up this time. "Well, considering that you summoned us, I expect you want to take the test." He stated. Naruto nodded his head at this. "Well, first of all, pick what elements you want to test you."

Naruto thought about this for a while before answering. "What element do I have currently?"

"Your element is Wind." Katsurou spoke up.

"What are the rest of the elements?"

"Well currently fire, lightning, earth, ice, wind, water, and shadow are here. The others are still sleeping." Hiroshi said.

"Could I take all of them?" Naruto asked.

"It would not be well advised. Keep in mind that you can always summon us again to take the other tests." Katsurou said.

Naruto thought for a bit more before answering. "Can I take the tests by water, ice, and fire?"

"Yes, you may." Tsubasa said. "Just come here." Naruto walked over to her, Nanami, and Hotaka. "Alright, close your eyes. We will test you now." As she said this, she put Naruto in a trance, and the three entered Naruto's memories. The three looked through Naruto's memories, from his birth, to the present. They couldn't help but feel sorry for all the pain and suffering he went through. Eventually they pulled out. Nanami was the first to speak up.

"For him to have gone through so much and turn out this way is nothing short of miraculous. His soul is pure. Why didn't you tell us about this before Katsurou?"

Katsurou sighed before speaking. "It wouldn't have done any good. You know we can't interfere with mortal affairs. No matter how aggravating it is…" Katsurou said the last part with a growl. He had picked Naruto to be a recipient of much of his element. The affinity he had was on par with the Ichibi, and yet the villagers of Konoha beat and abused Naruto due to him being the container of the Kyuubi. Pitiful.

"I think it's safe to say that he passed the test?" Hotaka asked. The other two nodded in agreement. "We better bring him out of his trance now. Tsubasa?" Tsubasa went over to Naruto and put her index finger on his forehead. Slowly Naruto's eyes opened.

"Did I pass?" Naruto asked sleepily.

"You passed Naruto." Katsurou said with a happy smile. Naruto grinned and started jumping around and shouting. "Not so fast Naruto. You still need to be gifted with the elements before it's done. Hotaka, if you would?" Hotaka nodded before going over to Naruto. Hotaka gave Naruto a reassuring smile before placing his hand on Naruto's head.

"From now on, fire will obey you. Have faith, for fire will never be extinguished. It is immortal, unconquerable, fierce. Yet it is also gentle, warm, and giving. Use it well." Hotaka's hand started glowing red and Naruto felt an intense warmth. "It is done. Tsubasa?" Tsubasa nodded and took Hotaka's position.

"I bless you with the control of water. Eternally flowing, never stopping. It is raging, unpredictable, but it is also gentle, life-giving." Her hand glowed blue and a sensation of peace came over Naruto. "Nanami?" Nanami walked over and took Tsubasa's place.

"Ice. Cold, deadly, yet also necessary. If there was no ice, the circle of life and death would become unbalanced. Use it well to defend those in need." Nanami's hand glowed blue and Naruto suddenly felt an intense cold like none he had felt before. "The ritual is complete. Use our powers well. Your chakra has been increased to that of the Ichibi, the least of the tailed beasts. Train and learn to use our powers to help those in need. Vanquish the darkness in the world." At this Ken'ichi, who had been mostly silent up until now spoke up.

"We now give you a task. Will you Naruto Uzumaki accept it?" Naruto thought for a moment before nodding. "Good. There is a upset in the balance of nature itself. A man who should not have been able to achieve immortality has. We task you with the responsibility of eliminating Madara Uchiha. If you can, kill the sannin named Orochimaru. He has been corrupting nature, though he has not yet achieved immortality. In return, we gift you with the control of earth." Ken'ichi walked over to Naruto who stood stock still in shock. "I gift you with the control of earth. Your heart is in the right place. Immovable, unbreaking. Just like the earth. Use it well." His hand glowed a dark brown, and Naruto felt suddenly invincible. "It is done. My gift to you has given you control over earth. If you summon us again, I can guarantee that the others will be up and wanting to meet you. Farewell Naruto Uzumaki." Ken'ichi disappeared, along with Nanami, Tsubasa, Hotaka, Natsumi, and Hiroshi.

Katsurou grinned at Naruto before walking up to him and kneeling in front of him. "Naruto, I want to let you know that I am proud of you. I can also say in the greatest confidence that your father is as well. We'll get him out of the shinigami's belly soon enough. He really was a genius you know. Anyways, I think it is time you learned why the villagers all hate you. You Naruto contain the Kyuubi no Yoko inside of you." Naruto looked stricken.

"So they're right, I am a demon." Naruto said. Katsurou sighed.

"Listen Naruto. If you seal a kunai in a scroll, does the scroll turn into a kunai?" Naruto shook his head no. "Well then, why would you be the Kyuubi?" Naruto's face gained a look of understanding. Katsurou smiled at Naruto. "Now, I want to give you a gift." Katsurou gave a sharp whistle. A sharp shriek came in reply. Seconds later, an eagle landed on Katsurou's head. Katsurou's face gained a look of annoyance while Naruto laughed at him. "Alright, alright already. Anyways Naruto, this is Chiaki. She is a very rare kind of eagle, called a wind eagle. She was just born five months ago. Eventually she will grow enough to be able to carry you. Consider this a belated birthday gift from me." Katsurou smiled at Naruto and handed Chiaki to him. Naruto looked at Chiaki. The feathers on her head were blue fading into white as you went further down her back, until they faded back into a mix of blue and white on her underbelly. Perfect camouflage for hunting from the sky. "I have to go now Naruto. Train hard. I would advise you focus on chakra control for now. I did not expect Ken'ichi to gift you with his power. I think he likes you! Haha!" Naruto smiled at this.

"Will I ever see you again?" He asked.

"I'm always with you. Just listen to the wind." As Katsurou said this, he slowly faded away with one last smile at Naruto.

"Huh?" Was the only response Naruto could think up. "Oh well, might as well get started."

And the ninja world was forever changed.

**Authors Note: Well, that's it! Hope you enjoyed! Naruto will not get a special weapon in this fic. If he needs a weapon, he'll use kunai or something. So, see ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Here is another chapter of Elemental Guardians! Hope you enjoy! On the downside, I can't figure out where to take Path to Greatness. Total mindblank on that. So in the mean-time, I'm working on this story. Well, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

Naruto sat on the ground panting. He had just learned two elemental jutsu off the forbidden scroll. He had also gone back to the shadow clone jutsu to read about anything he had missed. Apparently they passed on anything they learned to their user. Could be useful for information gathering, but he would have to think about other uses for them later. Right now he could sense two people coming. Just as he was about to stand up, Iruka crashed through the bushes surrounding the clearing, coming to a stop in front of Naruto.

"Ha! Got you! Do know what you've done?" Iruka shouted.

"Hey Iruka-sensei! You found me fast! I only had time to learn four jutsu! So do I pass now?" Naruto said.

Iruka stood their dumbstruck as his mind sorted through that information. "F-four j-jutsu? B-but…"

"Mizuki-sensei said that if I learned a jutsu of the forbidden scroll, you have to pass me!" A look of shock came over Iruka's face.

"Naruto! Take the scroll and run! Go!" Naruto looked confused for a second, but grabbed the scroll and jumped off. When Iruka was sure he had gone, Iruka performed a quick henge, and waited for Mizuki to show up. He didn't have to wait long. Ten minutes after Naruto left, Mizuki landed in the clearing. Iruka wanted to make sure that Naruto was telling the truth, so he played along.

"Mizuki-sensei! Mizuki-sensei! I learned a jutsu! I pass now right?" Iruka shouted.

Mizuki got a sick grin on his face. "Of course Naruto. Just give me the scroll."

"_So he did tell Naruto that. Why would you do this Mizuki?"_ Iruka thought. Mizuki sensing his confusion, took one of his giant shuriken of his back, and threw it at Iruka. Iruka just released the henge and jumped out of the way.

"Iruka? What are you doing here?" Mizuki shouted.

Iruka just shook his head in pity before answering. "Why are you doing this Mizuki? What possessed you to try and make Naruto steal the Forbidden Scroll?" Mizuki grinned. It wasn't a happy grin either. It was the grin of a sick man, a man who has lost everything, and is going to take revenge.

"I want power, that's why! With the forbidden scroll, no one will be able to stop me. I'll be able to kill the demon brat! I'll be able to take over the world!" Mizuki shouted before taking out a kunai and jumping at Iruka. Iruka took out his own kunai and blocked Mizuki's wild swing. Mizuki jumped away again after his first attack failed.

"Why are you helping the demon brat anyways? He killed your parents! He's evil!" Mizuki shouted.

Iruka shook his head before answering. "The Kyuubi is a evil monster…" Mizuki grinned, while a certain blond figure in the bushes felt tears in his eyes. "But Naruto is not. Naruto is a proud shinobi of Konohagakure. If you want to kill him, you'll have to go through me first!" Naruto felt a great relief in his heart. Not everyone hated him. Mizuki's grin turned into a sneer as he looked at Iruka.

"You want to defend the demon brat, fine! I'll just kill you to!" As he said this, he charged Iruka while drawing his last giant shuriken off his back. Iruka stood with his kunai drawn, and simply waited for his chance to strike. Naruto watched what seemed to be the end of his teacher through red-hazed eyes. He would _not_ let Mizuki kill one of his precious people. Just as Mizuki was about to strike, and Iruka was about to dodge, Naruto leapt out in front of Iruka and kicked Mizuki in the stomach, sending Mizuki flying into a tree. "Ha! There's the demon brat! Now stay still and die!" Mizuki shouted as he got off the ground and started going through handseals.

Naruto, not wanting to know what jutsu Mizuki was about to perform, made one handseal and twenty copies appeared in the clearing. All twenty Naruto's went running at Mizuki while the original stayed back and started another jutsu. Mizuki finally got to the last handseal for his jutsu, but just as he was about to use it a blue and white blur streaked down from the sky, directly at Mizuki's head. Mizuki got hit directly on the head, and stumbled back, trying to get his balance back. Naruto, taking advantage of his this, finished his jutsu and said "Fuuton: Wind Wolf Pack!". Twenty five wolves made of wind appeared and started circling Mizuki. The Naruto copies charging Mizuki poofed away, leaving the original standing behind the wolves.

"Not so great now, are you Mizuki?" Naruto said with a grin. With a wave of his hand, the wolves all closed on Mizuki and started biting and clawing at him. Mizuki screamed in agony and fear before passing out from the pain. Soon after, the wolves disappeared, leaving a bloody and beaten Mizuki lying on the ground.

Chiaki flew over to Naruto and sat on his shoulder. Naruto reached up and gave her head a rub saying a quick good job before turning to where Iruka was standing flabbergasted. "Are you alright Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I'm fine Naruto." Iruka said. Naruto looked happy at this and smiled at Iruka. "Hey Naruto, come over here please." Naruto went over to where Iruka was standing and stood in front of him. "Good, now close your eyes." Naruto closed his eyes, and felt a weight being tied onto his head. "You can open your eyes now." Iruka said. Naruto opened his eyes to Iruka's smiling face. Iruka didn't have his hitai-ate on though. Naruto reached up to where his goggles were and found a metal plate on a cloth tied around his head. Naruto smiled happily.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said. "Wanna go get some ramen?" Iruka smiled. Naruto would never change.

"First, can you tell me what jutsu's you learned from the forbidden scroll?" Iruka asked.

Naruto grinned. "Sure. I learned four. The kage bunshin no jutsu, tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu, Fuuton: Wind Wolf Pack, and Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet." Naruto said. Iruka just sighed. Figured he would learn kage bunshin. The others were a surprise though. Oh well. Naruto started running to Ichiraku's, leaving Iruka behind. "Come on Iruka-sensei!" He shouted behind him. Iruka grabbed the forbidden scroll before running to catch up.

"Wait up Naruto! We have to take this back to the Hokage!" Iruka shouted at Naruto. Naruto just kept running, but changed direction to the Hokage's tower.

"Hurry up Iruka-sensei!" Iruka sighed before running to catch up. What a day.

**Authors Note: Well, that's it. Sorry the chapter's so short, but as I finish this, I have a French final exam this afternoon, and three more exams next week. I am about halfway done the next chapter of Path to Greatness. After Wednesday, I am done school for the year! Should be updating more often after Wednesday. To answer some questions, I think Naruto will get some custom kunai, but he will mostly be a ninjutsu and taijutsu user. Anyways, see ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: I have had questions about what elements Naruto is going to get. For now I'm planning for him to get four or five other than the ones he currently has. That might change. Three are up to you guys to decide. Leave an idea in a review or pm me and tell me what element you guys want. I have one, maybe two, selected already. And yes, I am including gravity as an element. Thank you everyone who reviewed! I am aware that the water dragon bullet is not an S-rank jutsu, but I just liked the thought of him learning it. I am also aware that kage bunshin requires only one handseal. I do not know why I put it as multiple. I'm going to go back and fix that. Now that that is done, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. At all.**

Naruto sighed before going back to practicing the jutsu. His current sensei was a drill seargent. Katsurou on the other hand was grinning like a madman and flinging kunai he made out of wind at Naruto. The part that really pissed Naruto off was that the kunai were completely invisible! It was completely unfair!

"Why are we doing this again sensei?" Naruto asked as he dodged yet another invisible kunai.

Katsurou just shrugged before flinging another kunai at Naruto's turned back. Naruto, sensing it coming, ducked under it before rolling forward. "Good job! And it's good practice for your wind manipulation and dodging." This time he threw three one after another. Naruto weaved his way through the first two, but the last nicked his arm. "It's also very fun!" Naruto mumbled under his breath about sadistic senseis after this. Katsurou just shrugged and threw another kunai while Naruto was distracted. Naruto didn't notice it until it was too close and couldn't dodge fast enough. It nicked him on the cheek.

"Do you enjoy making me bleed?" Naruto shouted.

"Why yes, yes I do!" Katsurou said laughing. Naruto shouted in fury before charging at Katsurou. Katsurou chuckled before stepping off to the side and tripping Naruto with a low blast of wind at the back of his legs. "Now now Naruto. Don't lose your temper." Katsurou said while laughing. Naruto just sat up and started grumbling again. Katsurou may be sadistic sometimes, but his methods definitely worked. Already he was sensing the windcurrents surrounding him and disturbaces in them. He had to if he was dodging kunai that were invisible to the naked eye.

Last night, he and Iruka had returned the forbidden scroll to the Hokage, who had also informed him that the team placements would be the next day. Naruto had gone to the classroom and was put on a team with Sasuke and Sakura, along with a sensei named Kakashi. Turned out Kakashi was chronically late. They had gone up to the rooftop as their sensei ordered when he finally showed up, and they had all introduced themselves. Then they learned that the next day Kakashi would give them the real genin test. Naruto had left without a word to the other two. Not that they cared anyways.

He had then tried to see if he could contact Katsurou. Turned out he could. Apparently he had signed a sort of contract when he opened that scroll, so he could contact any of the Guardians that he wanted. Thats what Katsurou told him anyways. Naruto had then asked Katsurou to train him, which Katsurou had agreed to. So now Naruto was getting cut up by invisible kunais while Chiaki sat in a tree with what Naruto could swear was a grin. Even if she had a beak. Or he could just be paranoid. Either one worked. This line of thinking was interupted by another kunai that Naruto barely managed to dodge.

"Nice one! Your getting better! Better up the stakes now!" Katsurou said while laughing. He instantly started launching two kunai at once towards Naruto. Naruto, not feeling the disturbance created by the second kunai, couldn't dodge it and got a cut on the arm again. Naruto just growled before re-focusing.

This continued for three more hours until Katsurou called for a break. Naruto was up to sensing and being able to dodge four kunai flying at him. Katsurou then worked on correcting Naruto's taijutsu which was horrible, before teaching him one jutsu. By the time they were done, the sun had gone down and Naruto was very tired.

"Okay, go to bed now. We'll do this every day after you finish training with your team." Naruto just nodded wearily before walking back to his apartment. Katsurou turned to Chiaki. "I hope you enjoyed the show, because tomorrow your going to be going through it too." Katsurou said with a grin. Chiaki started growing nervous when she heard this and decided to catch up to Naruto. Katsurou gave one more smile in the direction Naruto and Chiaki had gone before fading away as if he wasn't even there to begin with.

Naruto's morning routine was the same every day. Get up, shower, get dressed, eat some instant ramen, and go do whatever he was doing that day. He was just finishing his ramen before he remembered what Kakashi had warned them about the day before. Not to eat breakfast. Naruto groaned before quickly finishing his breakfast and heading out the door for training ground seven.

When he got there, he saw three training posts in the middle of a clearing, and off to one side was a stone with what looked like engraving on it. Sasuke was sitting under a tree while Sakura sat on one of the training posts. He went to sit behind one of the training posts and started trying to improve his ability to sense wind. While he was doing this, Sasuke was sitting under a tree taking a quick nap, while Sakura was sitting on another post looking at Sasuke. That is before she noticed Naruto concentrating with his eyes closed.

"Hey Naruto-baka! What are you doing?" Sakura shouted/screached. Sasuke woken up by the noise, looked over and saw Naruto as well. Naruto looked up and sighed before ignoring them and going back to what he was doing.

"Dobe. What are you doing?" Sasuke asked. He was curious what Naruto was doing, even though he wouldn't admit it. Sakura just looked over at Sasuke with stars in her eyes. Sasuke ignored her and kept his attention one Naruto. Naruto for his part ignored them both. This is the scene Kakashi came upon an hour later.

"Okay..." He mumbled. "Time to start the test." He said loud enough for the three to hear him.

"YOUR LATE!" Sakura yelled. Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi all flinched at the yell and moved away from her.

"Your task is to get these bells from me before noon." He said as he held up two silver bells. "You may use anything you want. Ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu...it doesn't matter. I would advise that you come at me with the intent to kill though." He said with an eye smile. Sasuke and Naruto just shrugged at the same time, getting a chuckle from Kakashi. They both scowled and turned away from each other. Sakura looked worried though.

"Umm...sensei?" Kakashi looked at her. "Won't you get hurt if we're trying to kill you though?" She asked.

"He's a jonin for a reason Sakura." Sasuke said with a sigh of annoyance. Naruto just nodded agreement before he went back to scowling at Sasuke. Sasuke returned the scowl and Kakashi sighed.

"Whoever does not get a bell will go back to the academy." All three gulped at this. "When I say 'go', you may begin." Naruto quickly drew a kunai just as he finished speaking and charged Kakashi. Kakashi just sighed and disappeared from sight, only to reappear with the kunai in Naruto's hand pointing at the back of Naruto's head.

All three gulped for different reasons. Sasuke because he could only see a slight blur when Kakashi moved, Naruto because he could sense the displacement in the air when Kakashi had moved and it was insanely fast, and Sakura because it just seemed that Kakashi had disappeared and reappeared instantly.

"I don't think I said go yet did I?" Kakashi said casually. As soon as he said this, he let go of Naruto who collapsed onto the ground. "Go." Kakashi said before all three disappeared into the treeline.

Kakashi looked around and spotted all of them right away. Sasuke was really well hidden. Sakura was as well, but not as well hidden as Sasuke. Naruto was standing right in front of him and glaring. Kakashi sighed.

"You're different from the others aren't you." Kakashi stated. Naruto just kept glaring and charged.

"Shinobi lesson number 1: taijutsu." Kakashi said as he stuck his hand in a kunai pouch. Naruto instantly stopped with a confused look on his face. Why was he pulling out a kunai if he just said he was going to use taijutsu? His question was answered when Kakashi's hand came out holding an orange book.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"I'm reading my book."

"Why?"

"I want to see what happens." Kakashi answered.

Naruto glared again and charged. Kakashi paid no attention to him until he was right on top of him and abruptly blocked the punch with one hand. Naruto looked surprised for a moment before bringing his foot up and trying to kick Kakashi who ducked down just in time. Seeing his opportunity, Naruto reversed the kick and brought it crashing down on Kakashi's head. Or tried to. Kakashi had put away his book and was now holding his left arm and right leg in both his hands. Naruto instantly got a bad feeling.

"Your better than I thought you would be." Kakashi said. Naruto just continued getting more nervous. "They vastly underestimated your skill level. I actually had to put away my book to block that one." As soon as Kakashi said this, he disappeared again. Naruto instantly felt someone behind him and tried to move out of the way, but it was too late. "Konoha's Secret Taijutsu Style: A Thousand Years of Pain!" Kakashi shouted from behind him while sticking his fingers into his but. Sasuke and Sakura grimaced from where they were hiding. Naruto flew up into the air where he immediately burst in a poof of smoke.

_"What? A kage bunshin? When did he do a kawarimi? And where's the real Naruto...?"_ Kakashi thought as he looked around. He froze in his spot._ "Wait a minute...he wasn't here to begin with. He's been hiding the entire time. I can't even figure out where he is. This might be interesting after all."_ Kakashi thought with a smirk. Sasuke and Sakura were trying to figure out what happened without much success. Sasuke decided that if the dobe could do so well against a jonin, then he would be able to beat Kakashi no problem. Sakura on the other hand decided to go look for Sasuke.

Meanwhile, Naruto was hidden in a tree looking at all of them. Iruka was the only one who was able to find him anyways, something the anbu couldn't even do. Hiding from Kakashi was no problem. While he hid, he was trying to think of ways he could get the bells. Going it alone was immediately out. Kakashi was just too good for him to even attempt it. But there were only two bells. What was Kakashi trying to pull? Naruto settled down to a long wait to try to figure out the meaning of the test.

Sasuke meanwhile was changing position after throwing some shuriken at Kakashi that completely and utterly failed. After maybe two minutes of running, he finally landed in a clearing only to spot Kakashi already waiting for him. Sasuke got ready for a tough fight and threw a kunai past Kakashi that triggered a trap that fired even more kunai. Kakashi's lone eye just widened slightly before he did a kawarimi, making the kunai hit a log instead. Sasuke just frowned in annoyance.

"Your good. Almost as good as Naruto is." Kakashi said as he walked out of the forest. Sasuke ran at Kakashi and tried to punch him, which Kakashi caught. Not deterred, Sasuke tried a kick which also failed. Sasuke then reached out his hand to try to grab a bell. He ended up just barely touching one before Kakashi threw him away. Sasuke jumped even farther away and began going through handseals that made Kakashi's eye widen. _"No way he could have enough chakra to do that jutsu!"_ He thought. Just as he finished that thought though, Sasuke breathed out a giant ball of fire that came at Kakashi.

Sasuke smirked seeing that his jutsu took the jonin by surprise. That smirk disappeared when the smoke cleared and Kakashi wasn't in the crater made by the jutsu. He frantically started looking around himself for Kakashi, but couldn't spot him. That is until a voice came from below him.

"Below you." Kakashi said as he pulled Sasuke down so only his head was above ground. Sasuke scowled when he saw he had been beaten. Kakashi just gave him an eye smile and walked off to look for Naruto again. He didn't see the Sasuke in the hole release the henge and poof out of existence.

Sasuke was looking around for Kakashi when suddenly a weird sensation overtook his body and he was suddenly standing next to Naruto in a tree. He was just in time to see another copy of him get pulled into the ground up to his head. A minute later Kakashi walked off and the Sasuke in the hole turned into Naruto and poofed out of existence. Naruto got a surprised look on his face before turning to Sasuke.

"I figured out the meaning of this test." Naruto said. Sasuke just kept looking at Naruto and didn't say anything. Naruto let out a sigh before continuing. "The whole point of this test is to see whether we can work as a team. Teamwork."

"Like I need your help to get a bell." Sasuke said with a scowl. Naruto just sighed.

"How did going it alone work for you last time?" Naruto asked with obvious sarcasm.

"He got me by surprise!" Sasuke growled.

"Surprise huh? Just cooperate for once Sasuke. This isn't about you! Nothing in this life is solely about you!" Naruto said. Sasuke glared at Naruto before jumping off. "Well, that worked well. First Sakura refuses to work together, then Sasuke! Why am I surprised?" Naruto muttered to himself. Just as he was about to jump of there was a high-pitched scream that was heard throughout the forest. Chiaki landed on Naruto's shoulder while Naruto sighed. Kakashi found Sakura.

Kakashi had to hand it to the blond. Both of his teammates had been found in short order, but he himself had yet to be found yet. Whenever Kakashi thought he found Naruto, it was one of Naruto's kage bunshin. Sasuke and Sakura didn't have a clue about the true meaning of the test, but Kakashi had seen multiple kage bunshins talking to them. Both would always end up hitting the blond, but Naruto was trying at least.

"Hey sensei! Time for me to get a bell!" Naruto said as he jumped out of the trees in front of Kakashi. Kakashi just chuckled under his mask and got ready to fight. Naruto started the fight off by charging in and exchanging blows with Kakashi. This didn't work though. Every punch was blocked, every kick countered, until Kakashi swept his leg out from underneath him when he overextended on a kick. Naruto fell back and did a backflip away from Kakashi who just stood there waiting for Naruto.

Naruto sighed before going through handseals. He had wanted to keep his jutsu secret, but it seemed there was no choice. Naruto finished his jutsu and said "Fuuton: Wind Wolf Pack!". Twenty wolves materialized from the wind and quickly surrounded Kakashi before charging. Kakashi just jumped over the first one and blocked the second's bite with his reinforced steel gloves. He quickly took out a kunai with his other hand and channeled chakra into it before taking out the wolves. However, he was distracted enough that he didn't see Naruto going through another set of seals, this time for the jutsu Katsurou had taught him yesterday. The next thing Kakashi knew, he was hit from behind by a large projectile and sent flying over the ground.

Naruto watched the body for anything suspicious and sure enough, the body turned into a simple log. Naruto groaned before going to sit next to the training post. As soon as he sat down, the bell went off. Slowly the other two genin came out of the trees and took their spots by the other two training posts. As soon as they sat down, Kakashi appeared in front of them again. He sighed before looking at them.

"Naruto, good job on figuring out the meaning of the test." He said while looking at Naruto. "It's just too bad your teammates didn't listen to you or you guys might have gotten the bells." He sighed before looking at all three again. "I have decided your fate." Sakura looked at Kakashi apprehensively. Sasuke just looked at Kakashi with a blank face. Naruto sighed before looking up at the sky. "Two of you are not going back to the academy." Sakura continued to look apprehensive. Sasuke just leaned forward a bit. Naruto just kept looking at the sky. "Sasuke, Sakura..." Sakura looked at Sasuke happily, while Sasuke just smirked. "You are being dropped from the ninja program...permanently." Sakura's rejoicing turned to a stricken face in an instant. Sasuke leapt up with a snarl and charged at Kakashi. Kakashi sighed before taking him down and putting his foot to his head and a kunai to his throat. "You two still think that this is a game. Did you even think why you were put onto three-man squads?" Sakura looked confused while Sasuke growled. Naruto was the one to answer.

"It's so we can cover each other's weaknesses isn't it." Naruto said.

"Yes it is. For example..." Kakashi said as he pushed the kunai in his hand closer to Sasuke's throat. "Sakura, kill Naruto or Sasuke dies." Sakura started shivering in fright. Naruto just sighed at the reaction. Kakashi put the kunai away and got off Sasuke. "This is the type of situation you might run into out there. You two are not prepared for that." He walked over to the stone that had the engraving. "This stone is a special stone. It holds the names of all the shinobi that are considered heroes in this village. This is the KIA stone." All three looked down for a second. "They are all the shinobi that died in action for this village. The names of some of my best friends are engraved on this stone." Kakashi bowed his head in respect for a second before looking up at them. "I will give you one more chance. This time will be much harder than before though. You will have three hours to get the bells from me. You may eat lunch first, but Sakura will be tied to the stump and not allowed to eat anything. If anyone feeds her, they will be failed automatically." All three nodded before going over to where the lunches were while Sakura was tied to the stump. "Get started. I'll be back in thirty minutes." Kakashi said before he left the training ground.

Sasuke and Naruto started eating while Sakura sighed. Five minutes later, Sakura's stomach started growling. Naruto looked up at her for a moment before sighing. Slowly he got up and untied her.

"Here." He said while handing her the lunch box. Sakura looked at him in surprise before eating what was left in it. Sasuke seeing what he did sighed as well and handed her the rest of his. When she had finished, Kakashi popped out of nowhere.

"What did you do?" He yelled as the sky started darkening. Sasuke and Sakura started shivering in fear. Naruto stood up.

"We're a team! Sakura was hungry so we fed her! Get over it!" He yelled at Kakashi. Kakashi chuckled evily.

"Are you ready for your punishment?" He asked while leaning towards them. Sasuke and Sakura both shivered more while Naruto continued to glare at Kakashi. "YOU..." He started. "pass." All three genin sweatdropped at this. Kakashi laughed. "Team seven is officially made. Meet here tomorrow at seven for our first mission." He said to the genin who were now smiling happily...well...a smirk for Sasuke anyways. With that, Kakashi shunshinned away from the training ground and too the Hokage Tower to tell the Hokage his team had passed.

"See you guys tomorrow. I have to get going now." Naruto said as he walked away. The other two just nodded at him before both of them went home as well.

**Authors Note: That took a lot less time than I thought! Hope you enjoyed it! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: Wow, been a while since I've worked on this story. Not much I can say except that I was on holidays and away from a computer and internet for a few of weeks. Anyways, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, why would I be writing this?**

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"Focus!" Katsurou yelled as he threw another kunai. This one barely missed and Naruto let out a yelp as he dived to the side. "If you cant do this, how do you expect to stay alive against opponents that are trying to kill you?" He said as he threw another kunai. This one Naruto dodged along with a sword that another Katsurou slashed at him with.

Naruto was now standing on the ground with five copies of his master surrounding him, while the original was standing some ways further off. The five copies surrounding him were using blades made out of wind to hack and slash at him while the original was still flinging kunai at him. The swords and the kunai were invisible, so he had to rely on his ability to sense the wind that they were made of. He let out a curse as he ducked under another swipe of a sword before diving to the side avoiding three kunai.

"That's enough Naruto." Katsurou said as the five copies disappeared. Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he collapsed on the ground. "Now start on your laps." he said laughing. Naruto groaned as he got up again and started running around the field at full speed. It was the end of the first month of Katsurou's training. After the first day, Katsurou had started upping the training for both Naruto and Chiaki. The worst part was that it was on a daily basis that he was making it harder. On the upside, Naruto and Chiaki were in the best shape they had ever been in. Naruto finished his thirty laps and collapsed onto the ground yet again. Chiaki flew down from the sky and landed on his chest before falling asleep. Naruto grinned at his companion before shutting his eyes himself. This wasn't long lived as he heard footsteps coming towards him from his right.

"You're a slave driver." Naruto said as he sat up again.

"As much as I'd like to argue with that," Katsurou said with a grin. "I really can't." Naruto just continued glaring at him. "Anyway's..." He said. "Time to learn another jutsu!" Naruto slowly got up before turning to face his teacher.

"Let's just get this over with." He groaned.

"Alright, alright. After this you can have the day off. Okay?" Naruto grinned at that before Katsurou spoke again. "However, you will have to learn two jutsu instead of only one." Naruto groaned again before nodding. "One of the jutsu is going to go with the taijutsu style I am going to teach you. There really is no name for it, but the taijutsu style is called the _Kaze Kobushi_. You use wind manipulation to gather cutting winds around your fist and do damage. You can also send it out in a wave to knock an opponent away. It's a very useful style, but it's also very difficult to learn." Naruto nodded at this and Katsurou continued. "The other jutsu I will teach you is one that I made. The _Fuuton: Kaze Oshi no Jutsu_ is a A rank technique that forces wind down on an opponent and slows down their movements. Let's get started." He said with a grin.

Naruto backed up a bit and waited for Katsurou to show him the handseals for the first jutsu. Katsurou just stood there not moving and looking at Naruto.

"Well, are you going to show me the handseals or not?" Naruto asked.

"There are none." Katsurou said with a grin. "Use what you learned with the wind manipulation exercises to do it."

Naruto sighed before holding his hand in front of his face. He slowly concentrated and started gathering multiple blades of wind around his fist and sharpening them. Just as he was about to finish the jutsu though, two blades hit each other and all the blades blew away in opposite directions. Naruto was cut four times on the arm, leg, chest, and cheek. None of the blades of wind had done any major damage and Naruto just stood looking at his hand. Katsurou just watched and laughed at the expression on his students face.

"Make sure you don't set them all on one orbital." He said with a grin from where he stood. At this Naruto seemed to awaken from the daze he was in and looked at his hand in confusion.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Think about it like this." Katsurou said. "You are making the blades of wind orbit a central point around your fist. The amount of blades it needs though, are going to make some be set on the same path and even in the path of one another. To fix this, you just have to set a few on one orbit around your hand, a few on another, and so on, until they are all sharpened and rotating around your hand." Naruto looked confused at this and just stared at Katsurou. "Let me give you a demonstration." Katsurou said. "Watch what I'm doing and try to copy me."

Katsurou walked over to a tree and stood in front of it. Slowly he lifted his hand up and held it for Naruto to see. Slowly the wind blades started to accumulate until his hand was giving off a slight breeze that Naruto could feel from where he was. Naruto just stood and stared in shock. Katsurou's hand was literally covered in wind blades. If you looked closely there were multiple miniature wind blades orbiting his hand in paths that overlapped each other yet never seemed to cross. There were also multiple blades that were on the exact same orbit which made it even harder to believe. Katsurou grinned before drawing his fist back and sending it into the tree. There was a large crash and the tree fell over to the ground. Where the two ends had met, there were multiple clean slices that were all over the trunk of the tree and the tree stump that was still in the ground. Katsurou turned around and walked back over to Naruto.

"You can also do this with that move." He said as he shot his other hand out at a tree stump about twenty feet away. Moments later a large dent appeared in the wood as if by magic. "Well, get to work." He said as he sat down under a tree.

By the time Naruto learned the two jutsu to Katsurou's satisfaction, it was midnight and all the streets were deserted as Naruto walked back to his apartment. He had managed to get the two jutsu to a level he could use in battle, although the second jutsu was still giving him a bit of trouble. It would give him an advantage, but it wasn't all that much of an advantage yet. Naruto sighed as he got to his apartment. At least Katsurou had given him the day off the next day. He quickly opened it and walked inside. He closed the door behind him and walked through the kitchen and into his bedroom. Once inside, he placed Chiaki on her perch over his nightstand before changing and getting ready for bed. He let out a sigh of relief before drifting of to sleep.

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Naruto woke up to the blaring of his alarm and Chiaki tapping him on the head with her beak. Naruto quickly shut the alarm off and looked outside. It was early mornig and people were just starting to get ready for the day's work. Jumping out of bed he quickly got dressed and decided to go get some ramen for breakfast as he hadn't been to Ichiraku's very much lately. Once they were outside, Chiaki flew off to hunt and Naruto quickly jumped to the rooftops, before heading off to Ichiraku's. After five minutes of jumping along the rooftops at a slow speed, he finally made it to the ramen stand and walked in. Ayame was at the counter writing something down while Naruto could see Teuchi in the back making ramen. Naruto sat down at the counter and waited for Ayame to finish whatever she was doing. She quickly finished and turned to Naruto.

"What do you want Naruto?" She asked with a smile.

"One miso ramen please!" He said grinning. "And keep them coming!" Ayame gave the order to her father who smiled at Naruto before making the ramen. Naruto got his bowl and started slurping the ramen down. He quickly ordered another bowl and started eating again.

Twenty minutes later, Naruto walked out of the stand with a full stomach and an empty wallet. Naruto decided to walk around and see if he could find any of his friends. After walking around for a bit, he saw team eight standing in a training ground. Naruto decided to walk over and talk to them for a bit.

"Hey Naruto!" Kiba said as he walked up.

"Hello Naruto-san." Shino said.

"H-h-hello N-Naruto-san." Hinata stammered before blushing and looking at the ground.

"What are you doing here? Where's your team?" Kiba asked.

"Just got today off from training and decided to take a walk and see how everyone was doing." Naruto answered.

"We are doing fine. Kurenai-sensei is an excellent teacher." Shino said with no expression in his voice or face. Kiba looked over at Shino and sighed.

"You really gotta loosen up man." Kiba said to Shino. Naruto chuckled at this.

"So, what have you guys been doing?" Naruto asked.

"Not much really. I've been recieving training with Akamaru from my clan, and genjutsu training from Kurenai-sensei. We really haven't done anything but train since we became genin." Kiba said.

"I-I have b-been training with m-my c-c-clan as w-well." Hinata managed to stutter out.

"I have been working on controlling my hive. My father says that I am almost ready for another hive." Shino said. Everyone just looked at Shino after he said this.

"Is it just me, or is that the most he's said in the time we've known him?" Kiba asked.

"I think it is." Naruto said. Hinata managed a tentative nod. Shino's eyebrow twitched a bit but otherwise he did nothing.

"So, what have you been doing Naruto?" Kiba asked.

"I am curious about that as well." Shino said.

"I've been training. Really have not had a single day off since the academy."

"Ouch." Kiba said with a wince. "That's gotta suck man. I mean, even we get some time off once in a while."

"I have gotten a lot stronger now though, so that's a good thing at least. Hey, where's Akamaru?" Naruto asked.

"He's getting his monthly check-up." Kiba said. "Hey, wanna go get something to eat? We just got off for the day."

"Well, I already ate, but sure. Sounds good." Naruto said. The others nodded in agreement.

"There is this restaurant that is supposed to be good. Want to go there?" Kiba asked.

"Sure." replied Naruto.

"It sounds acceptable." Shino said.

Hinata just blushed while looking at Naruto and nodded quickly. Everyone quickly started walking across Konoha to where the restaurant was located. While they walked they quickly caught up with what everyone else had done since getting out of the academy, or hellhole as Kiba called it. Apparently all of them had advanced quickly once they had gotten out of the academy. Kiba was busy learning his clan jutsu and so was Shino. Hinata was learning genjutsu from Kurenai and refused to talk about her family, only looking down in sadness when the topic was brought up. Kiba looked at her in worry and even Shino looked slightly concerned about her.

Naruto saw the looks and wondered what was going on, but thought better of asking, instead changing the subject. Naruto told them about his training with his team and only told them that he had gotten a lot stronger training on his own as well. He did_ not _want them to know about Katsurou and the Elemental Guardians. Only the old man knew about it, and he had told Naruto that it was a bad idea to tell anyone else.

Fifteen minutes of walking later, and fifteen minutes of getting glared at by villagers for Naruto, they finally got to the restaurant. Standing in front of it, Naruto's heart fell. He knew from experience that this was not one of the places that he could go into without getting chased out.

"Um, guys, I think I'll go see how Shika and Choji are doing." Naruto said as the others started to go in.

"Okay, sure. See ya Naruto." Kiba said. Shino nodded goodbye before following his teammate inside. Hinata stayed outside and watched Naruto walk away with a sad expression on her face before following her teammates into the restaurant.

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Naruto walked around Konoha for a bit more before he finally found Shikamaru and Choji hanging out at a hill the three of them used to go to during the academy. Naruto just walked up and lay down beside them. Choji offered him some chips which Naruto took with a grin before looking up and watching clouds with the others. Three hours passed by before Shikamaru sat up.

"Hey Naruto. What've you been doing?" He asked lazily. Choji just continued eating his chips while listening.

"Not much. Training mostly. Only just got a day off from my sensei." Naruto said with a grimace. Choji let out a chuckle at this while Shikamaru smirked. "What about you guys?" He asked.

"Not much. We've mostly been working on teamwork with Asume-sensei. Ino is a real pain though." Shikamaru said.

"I've been working with my clan on jutsu. Not really much else is going on though. There was a barbecue eating contest a couple days ago though. That was fun." Choji said with a slight smile.

Naruto grinned at his friends before he got up. "Want to get something to eat?" He asked.

"Sure." Shikamaru answered.

"Itchiraku?" Choji asked in return.

"Definately." Naruto said with another grin. The three friends quickly walked the short distance to Itchiraku's and entered. Naruto ordered a beef ramen while Choji got a chicken. The two sat down in seats beside each other and looked at each other with a grin.

"Ready?" Naruto asked. Choji nodded and Naruto started counting down from three. When he reached one, they both started eating as fast as they could. As soon as they finished, Ayame came and gave them fresh ones and took the dirty ones away. Shikamaru sat down and got a shrimp ramen and started eating slowly and watching his friends have their ramen eating contest. After they both reached twenty three bowls, Choji sat his chopsticks in his bowl, and leaned back from the counter groaning.

"I win." Naruto said with a grin. Shikamaru smirked at this. "Ten to three for me now."

"I don't know how you can still move, let alone talk." Choji said.

"I don't think we want to know how he can do it Choji." Shikamaru said with a smirk.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled.

"I have to go back home now. Dad said he was going to train me more in the clan jutsu's." Shikamaru said with a bored look on his face.

"I should probably get going too." Choji said.

"Alright. See ya later!" Naruto said as he started walking back to his apartment.

When he got back to his apartment, Chiaki was sitting outside on a lamp-post outside. As he walked under it, she flew down and landed on his shoulder before proceeding to peck at his head in annoyance.

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Naruto yelled as he held his head in his hands. Chiaki just started pecking his hand. "Would you stop it?" Naruto shouted. A man walking past let out a glare at him, and Chiaki stopped pecking at his hand, just long enough to return the glare with a simple unblinking stare. The man got visibly uncomfortable before he walked away muttering about demons. Naruto quickly went up the stairs to his apartment and went in, setting Chiaki down on her perch as he walked inside. Chiaki quicly closed her eyes and fell asleep, leaving Naruto to lie down on his couch and watch t.v.

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The next morning, Naruto quickly showered, got dressed, and grabbed his equipment before going to meet his team. When he finally got to team sevens training ground, only Sakura and Sasuke were there, and as usual Kakashi still wasn't there. Thirty minutes later Kakashi finally showed up and his team greated him with looks of confusion.

"Umm...are you really Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked in confusion. Sakura and Sasuke stared at Kakashi as well, wondering if it really was their sensei. From their knowledge, Kakashi had never been this early before. Usually he was at least an hour late to all their team meetings.

"Yes, I am." Kakashi said in a depressed voice. "Am I really that bad?" He asked. The genin just nodded and Kakashi's head fell before he gestured for them to follow him. Ten minutes later they were standing in front of the Hokage as they got their next mission assignment.

"So, we have catching the cat Tora, cleaning gutters on main street, trimming tree's for the park, babysitting for the orphanage..." The Hokage began listing off more missions that they could take until Kakashi cleared his throat. "Yes?" Sarutobi asked with a slight hint of annoyance.

"I believe team seven is ready for a C-rank mission Hokage-sama." At seeing the look of doubt on his leader's face Kakashi clarified. "Nothing too complicated, but I believe they are ready for a simple escort mission or something along those lines. They have been doing very well in their training." Kakashi finished. Naruto and Sakura both looked at the Hokage in hope while Sasuke looked away, although you could tell he was listening intently.

Sarutobi thought for a moment before letting out a sigh. "As you wish. We actually have a simple escort mission today. Send in the client." He said. Seconds later, the client stepped into the room. "This is Tazuna. He is a bridge builder travelling to the country of Wave. You will be escorting him there and protecting him from bandits."

The old man pointed his sake bottle at the team and spoke. "These little brat's are going to protect me?" He asked as he swayed on his feet slightly. Sasuke stiffened and a scowl appeared on his face. Naruto glared at the old man and started fingering a kunai he had taken out of his pouch. Sakura...well she hadn't heard him, being too busy looking at Sasuke and giggling. Kakashi put his hands on the two boys shoulders before speaking.

"Relax Tazuna-san. I'm a jonin, and can take care of any threats that may come about on this mission. Beside's, these three are actually pretty good for their age." He said with an eye smile. "Go home and pack anything you will need then meet me at the gates in thirty minutes. You too Tazuna-san." Kakashi poofed out of the room, and the three genin trudged out of the Hokage tower before going home to get packed.

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Twenty-nine minutes later everyone was at the gate's except Kakashi and Tazuna.

"Is he honestly going to be late for our first C-rank mission?" Naruto asked in annoyance. Sakura just shook her head while Sasuke leaned against the wall and did nothing. "I mean seriously, he doesn't have to be late all the time!"

"Hmph. Shut it dobe." Sasuke said.

"Care to repea-"

"Hey, there they are." Sakura said in and effort to diffuse the situation. It worked and both boys looked in the direction she was pointing. Kakashi and Tazuna were walking along the roadway towards them. They stopped when they were in front of the three genin and Kakashi spoke.

"Everyone got all the stuff they'll need?" Everyone nodded. "You realize this is a two week mission at the minimum right?"

"Well, considering this is an escort mission, even the dobe over there should have figured that out." Sasuke said dryly. Naruto was about yell at Sasuke when Kakashi interupted him.

"Let's go then." He said. Naruto gave a futile glare at Sasuke who simply smirked before walking after Kakashi and Tazuna. Naruto sighed before catching up. It was going to be a long trip.

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They had been walking along the road for hours, and now Naruto was bored, tired, and hungry. Unfortunately, it wasn't time to stop yet, and there wasn't time to stop for food before they stopped for the night. Therefore Naruto was stuck trying to amuse himself with trying to finetune his chakra control and wind control. It was slow going, especially because Naruto seemed to have hit a block on his wind control and sensing. Naruto sighed as he gave up on wind control for the day and started trying to strike up a conversation.

"So, how long until we stop for the night?" Naruto asked Kakashi. Sasuke looked back giving a slight grunt before continuing walking while Kakashi looked at his student.

"Not too long. Maybe five or six hours." He said before turning his head back to continue scanning his surrounding's. Naruto sighed before looking around himself as well. They were walking down the main road to wave which didn't look like it got used that much. They were mainly surrounded by trees, and it was extremely hot out. Along the side of the road there were a couple of puddles but otherwise not much. Naruto started to look away before his eyes shot back to the puddles.

_"Puddles? On a hot day like this when it hasn't rained in a couple of days? Thats got to be the worst excuse for a disguise ever."_Naruto quickly turned his head to check whether his team saw it as well. Kakashi definately saw it, but Sakura was walking along talking to Sasuke while Sasuke was watching the ground in front of him, effectively ignoring her. Naruto let out a silent sigh as he saw this, but quickly focused his attention on the puddles again. He quickly caught his sensei's eye who quietly nodded at him before continuing on his way. Naruto nodded back before moving slightly closer to Tazuna and preparing to defend him. As soon as they were all past the two puddles, two nin shot out of them and rushed Kakashi, quickly shredding him with a chain strung between them. Naruto noticed the wood chips and grinned before jumping in front of the two nin who were now running at Tazuna.

"W-what's going on?" Sakura said in panic. Sasuke reacted quicker than Sakura and ran at Tazuna, hoping to get there before the two nin got past Naruto. Naruto for his part calmly stood and held his hand above his head before swinging it down and sending a blade of wind at the chain which cut it in half. The two shinobi quickly released the chain while one ran at Naruto to distract him and another continued at Tazuna. Naruto reacted quicker than the nin thought and ducked under his first swipe and sent an uppercut at the nin's face which he blocked with his metal gauntlet. The two jumped further apart before charging each other again.

Sasuke in the meanwhile intercepted the nin charging at Tazuna and immediately kicked him away before taking a defensive stance in front of Tazuna. The nin he had kicked away rushed at him again and Sasuke moved to the side, dodging the metal gauntlet, before sending a flurry of punches that knocked the wind out of the nin. The nin backed away slightly and Sasuke, not wanting to let him get his breath back, sent a fireball at him which the nin couldn't dodge. The fire cleared and the nin was lying on the ground with burn marks all over him. Sasuke looked over at Naruto and saw that he was standing in front of his opponent who was lying on the ground unconcious. Kakashi quickly appeared again behind Sakura who turned around and screamed.

"G-g-ghost!" Sakura yelled before backing up and tripping.

"I'm not a ghost Sakura." He said with amusement clearly present in his voice. "Kawarimi." Sakura glared at him before standing up and going over to the rest of her team.

"Lazy slacker." Naruto mumbled under his breath. Kakashi chuckled slightly but stopped at the look his genin team were giving him.

"Good job everyone! You all did good! Sakura, we'll work with you later. Tie them up Naruto. I'm going to have a talk with Tazuna here." Kakashi glared at Tazuna who began to sweat.

_"Oh. Shit_." Tazuna thought as he gulped and began to shiver.

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**Authors Note: That's it! Hope you enjoyed it! Did not know quite how to do this part of the story. Gonna have to sit down and think out how I'm gonna do the wave portion soon. Don't expect much updating too soon for my stories anyway. School just began, and my whole semester is filled with the classes I get the most homework in. Good news though! Next semester I get a spare and the classes I do get are jokes that are almost homework free! Gotta love those school boards! Anyways, read and review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: I'm back! Sorry for the late update. Been a bit busy lately with school. Piece of advice. Lazy habits in junior high **_**will**_** come back and bite you in the ass in high school. Especially grade 12. Not a good thing. Anyways, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If you have not gotten that through your head yet, then you probably should!**

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"I'm bored." Naruto groaned out. Sasuke turned his head and glared over at him while Sakura and Kakashi let out a sigh. They had just gotten off the boat that had taken them across the water that separated wave from the mainland. Naruto hadn't stopped complaining since.

"Will you shut up!" Sakura finally yelled as Naruto started to talk again. Naruto gave her a sulky glare before focusing on maintaining contact with the wind.

"_Lets see. Tree, tree, deer, rabbit, tree, bush, man, nother deer…wait…man?"_ Naruto quickly flung a kunai into the bushes where he sensed the man, but just before the kunai hit, the presence disappeared to be replaced with the rabbit. _"Damnit! Substitution!"_ He thought angrily before he turned his attention fully onto the wind, blocking out the noise of his teammates talking. The faint impressions he had been getting turned into a clear picture of the surrounding area with only the ground and specific details missing. Naruto's eyes snapped open as he sensed a large object speeding in their direction.

"Duck!" He and Kakashi yelled at the same time. Naruto quickly grabbed Sakura and Tazuna, shoving them down to the ground as he ducked under the object as it sped overhead.

"Not bad for a green genin." A voice said as mist spread through the area. "Too bad it won't save you."

Just as Kakashi was about to speak, he sensed a presence just behind Tazuna and Sakura who were still just getting up again. Directing chakra to his legs, he dashed forwards, hoping that he wouldn't be too late. Sasuke, sensing the same thing, but an instant later, drew and threw a kunai in one smooth movement. Just as the figure raised a huge object in the air, the kunai penetrated its head, causing it to burst into water that fell on the ground below.

"Now I'm getting annoyed." The voice said as the mist cleared slightly. Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura all looked in the direction of the voice. It was a man about six feet tall, holding a huge zanbatou casually on his shoulder. He had no shirt on and had bandages wrapped around the lower part of his face. All three genins eyes opened wide when they saw the man was standing on the water."Hurry up and die."

Just as the figure spoke, three more copies of the man burst from the water and shot straight at the three genin. Thinking quickly, Naruto summoned a blade of wind in front of the one charging him while he dove at Sakura, pushing her out of the path of hers. Looking over, he saw Sasuke dodging the slashes of his opponent while Kakashi was fighting what he assumed was the real one. Turning back to his two opponents, he sent two more blades of wind at them, making them step aside before continuing to run at him. He managed to avoid the first ones swing by stepping back slightly and dove under the second ones sword as it went right through where his head just was. Coming up between his opponents, he did a handstand, kicking both away from each other while he jumped at one. The one he jumped at managed to recover from the kick, raising his sword to block Naruto's punch.

"You are _really_ getting on my nerves brat!" The clone said as he swung at Naruto again, only for Naruto to jump over it. The clone grinned before raising its leg and kicking Naruto in the stomach as he came down. Naruto let out a pained gasp before flying back towards the other clone who got his sword ready to slash Naruto in half. Naruto did a hasty kawarimi and hid in the bushes for a quick breather. The clone's sword slashed into the log, cutting it completely in half. "Goddamnit!" The clone shouted. Naruto grinned from his hiding place before quickly going through handseals and performing his most powerful jutsu.

"Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet!" He whispered as water from the lake took the form of a dragon and crashed down on the clone. Naruto grinned again as he saw the clone was destroyed. J

"Forget something boy?" A voice behind him asked. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he dove forwards, barely avoiding the blade that would have cut him in half. As it was he received a deep gash along his back that immediately started bleeding. Naruto groaned in pain, unable to move. "You're done boy." The clone in front of Naruto said with a sadistic grin as it started to walk up to him. Naruto silently cursed his carelessness while trying to figure a way out of the situation he was in.

The clone finally reached Naruto and brought it's sword up over its head, ready to bring it down and split Naruto in half. Just as it was about to bring the sword down though, a kunai imbedded deep into its back making it collapse into water. Naruto sighed before falling to the ground in exhaustion.

"Naruto! Are you alright?" Sakura called in worry from where she stood with Tazuna.

Naruto lifted his head slightly to grin at her. "I'm fine Sakura. Just a bit tired." He said as he turned his head towards where Sasuke was just finishing his enemy off with a kunai to the chest. Naruto looked around the area for Kakashi and finally spotted him battling the enemy shinobi on the water where they were trading blows and jutsu in a rush that Naruto couldn't even keep up with. All he saw were water jutsu being sent out by the enemy under the cover of the mist and Kakashi either dodging them or countering with the same jutsu. Just as another clash finished, both shinobi jumped away, Kakashi landing on the ground in front of his students while the enemy stuck to the water.

"Not bad. They actually defeated my clones." Sasuke smirked arrogantly at this while Naruto let out a small grin of his own. "Too bad they only have a tenth of my strength." Both boys paled at this while Kakashi kept his eyes on the enemy. "I suppose I should tell you the name of your killer. My name is Zabuza Momochi. Demon of the Hidden Mist." He held up his sword in front of him. "And this is Kubikiri Houcho."

Kakashi tensed as Zabuza slung his sword behind his back and performed a handseal. The mist got thicker as Zabuza seemed to fade away right in front of them.

"I am a master of the silent killing technique. As you will soon find out." Zabuza's voice seemed to echo around the whole area, preventing any of the genin or even Kakashi from locating him. Sakura was holding a kunai in shaking hands while she looked straight ahead. Sasuke stood with a kunai drawn and was sweating furiously as he struggled to fight of the massive killing intent that was crashing down on them all. Naruto's eyes were wide as he was frozen from the sheer amount of killing intent focused on him.

Kakashi looked at his three students and flared his chakra, shattering the killing intent surrounding them. "Stay alert!" He snapped at them as he focused on using senses other than sight. Just as he said that, he felt a presence appear behind Tazuna and he dashed forward, impaling it with a kunai. The clone turned into water while Kakashi's eyes widened before he ducked under the eerily silent sword that flew over him. He didn't even hear it land. _"So this is a true master of the silent killing style."_ He thought. Slowly he walked back in front of his students and focused chakra to his ears and to his nose, hoping find Zabuza before he found them.

Naruto on the other hand, focused on using his ability to sense the wind to find Zabuza. The mist was still screwing with him, but not as much as with his sight. Suddenly he sensed what he assumed was the sword flying at them again. He crouched down, pulling Tazuna and Sakura down as well. Sasuke dove to the side as the sword passed over them all without making a noise. Just as Naruto thought they were in the clear though, Zabuza appeared in front of him and kicked him in the face, sending him into a tree and knocking the breath out of him. As soon as he kicked Naruto, Zabuza spun around, jabbing a kunai into Sasuke's arm as he tried to stab him. Sasuke gave a yelp of pain as he stumbled back, kunai still entrenched in his arm. Sakura tried to get away, but Zabuza appeared right in front of her and punched her in the face, sending her flying into Sasuke who was knocked down under her weight.

Just as he was about to go after Tazuna who was still lying on the ground, paralyzed in fear, Kakashi appeared behind him, stabbing a kunai into his side and knocking his legs out from under him. Zabuza let out a grunt as he hit the ground and rolled away from the drop kick that landed by his head. He flung himself off the ground and into the air, quickly performing handseals and sending a huge water dragon at Kakashi who dodged it easily. As Zabuza came down again, he caught the sword his clone threw him and brought it up, intending to bring it down on Kakashi. Kakashi pulled out a kunai and held it in a defensive stance, channeling chakra to it and strengthening it. The two met in a loud clash as they struggled to overpower the other. Zabuza had a huge advantage as he used the added leverage of his huge sword to force Kakashi back slightly. Kakashi channeled more chakra to his legs and arms as he struggled to stand his ground.

Kakashi grunted as the strain became too much and he dove to the side, only receiving a minor cut to the side. He panted as he got up, feeling his chakra reaching dangerous levels. Zabuza himself was low on chakra, evidenced by the lifting of the mist. The two stood in their fighting stances as the mist slowly cleared more and they caught their breath. Finally the mist cleared completely and they sprang forward again, weaving in and out of blows as they tried to get into position for a takedown. Finally Zabuza made one slight error in his swing and kakashi stepped inside his reach, swinging a hand down on a pressure point in Zabuza's wrist and making him drop his sword while at the same time his other hand shot up and stabbed Zabuza in the shoulder. Zabuza barely managed to jump away before Kakashi could finish him off, collapsing to his knees meters away from where Kakashi stood panting.

Kakashi slowly walked over to Zabuza, but before he could finish him off, two needles flew out of nowhere and hit Zabuza in the neck, killing him instantly.

As Zabuza fell to the ground completely, a shinobi in a mask appeared in front of him and picked him up. "I thank you for the assistance, but I need to dispose of his body now." The shinobi said as he disappeared. Kakashi sighed before covering his sharingan again and turning around to see all his students barely standing.

"We have to get back to Tazuna's house now guys." He said. Just as he was about to start off though, he pitched forward onto his face. He barely managed to turn his head. "Well shit." He said dully. Naruto gave a weak chuckle before making two shadow clones to carry his sensei while they headed to Tazuna's.

**Authors Note: That's it! Another Chapter! God school sucks. Anyways, on a brighter note, I have discovered the wonders of science fiction. John Ringo's Into the Looking Glass series to be exact! Try reading them sometime, they really are quite good. Read and review!**


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